Frailty syndrome is a newly emerging complication in adults living with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) associated with adverse health outcomes and decreased quality of life. This calls for investigation into its prevalence in T2DM adults, factors associated with it, and strategies to reduce the trajectory of frailty among T2DM adults. Therefore, this review aimed to assess frailty prevalence and its associated factors in T2DM adults and identify strategies to be implemented by nurses to mitigate frailty. An integrative review approach was used following the six steps of the Toronto and Remington framework. Relevant texts between 2017 and 2022 were extracted from Google Scholar, PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library using selected keywords, and the search strategy was presented using the PRISMA flow diagram. Sixteen cross-sectional studies on frailty that met the inclusion criteria after screening were reviewed. Results showed that the frailty prevalence ranged from 10.2% to 55% among T2DM adults. Frailty was primarily defined using the Fried Frailty Phenotype. Frailty was found to be mainly associated with diabetes, poor glycemic control, mobility limitations, age, depression, hypoalbuminemia, and nutritional factors. In individuals with T2DM, early detection, exercise, dietary and educational interventions, and glycemic management seem to be the most successful approaches to reducing frailty. The increasing prevalence of frailty calls for early diagnosis and management of frailty and its associated factors among adults with T2DM. Frailty should also be included in clinical guidelines for T2DM to target individualized interventions and therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: Frailty, Frailty scale, Prevalence, Type-2 diabetes mellitus, Type-2 diabetes mellitus adults.